When the Great Egrets start preening each other Spring can not be far behind. The romance has defiantly begun with this pair who are busy making their nest. Audubon's symbol of conservation was almost hunted to extinction for its beautiful feathers. Over 100 years later it is wonderful to see them on the bird rather than a ladies hat.

Common ring-billed gull looks like royalty today. It was a working Sunday and will be a working President's day tomorrow. I think warmer weather has people ready to get out and active. A welcome change to the indoor winter routine. I watched the news showing another Winter Storm for the northern states! Stay strong you guys!

Feb. 14
Great Day. Sue is feeling well after a couple down days. Chocolate covered cherries presented by my husband. Beautiful kayak trip. Lunch of shrimp tacos. Then, arrival of new camera lens. Afternoon playing with it, getting acquainted. Caught this Yellow- Rumped Warbler which was icing on the cake of the day.

Dec 21
Back to the beach after a couple chilly weeks of Winter. Joe dances with the Ring-billed Gull. Happy solstice everyone. The days begin to get longer now! Joe watched the lunar eclipse last night through the skylight which I thought was a pretty luxurious way to see it. He would call to me at intervals to come see, but at 3 in the morning I was too cozy under the covers. What's another 450 years anyway?

Nov, 29
Went down to the marina tonight with the Saint Augustine Camera Club to practice/learn taking dusk/night shots. One of the 1812 replica ships was in port.

I have been off the gym for a week due to the fact that it was Thanksgiving week and they held no classes at the YMCA -- redoing the floors. But I'm headed back tomorrow thankfully. I need to. (not to be confused with wanting to.)

Dec. 4
Pelican chillin' in the bay. Adult non-breeding plumage. This pic is from last week and I am just now going through some of these shots. Tons of stuff going on around town today and I spent it at home in my PJs. I ate two dark chocolate covered cherries which are better than bonbons. Got a lot of work done and Sue slept on the sofa. We were happy.

Nov 25.
A lot of things to be thankful for and the fact that I have a mother/daughter picture where we are both looking at the camera with our eyes open, is one of them. Besides that, the list is long and includes everything from friends and family, enjoyable work and health, to flocks of pelicans flying over and jumping spiders.

NOV 23
This baby cuban anole is an invasive species out-competing our local anoles evidently; and we are called upon to get rid of them. I could never do it. Look how tiny it is. It is stupid how cute it is. I have decided to just live and let live with these "invasive" critters.

Nov. 13
Two kayak trips today. Lots of tip money so "Yea" for that. This showy snowy egret with shadow was guarding our spot at the dock and did NOT appreciate our return. We evidently have the best fishing spot in the marina. My first two-trip day and I am a tired puppy tonight.

Nov. 8
It is a curious thing. Last year in August when we were visiting here, these little guys were everywhere. On broad leafed plants and tree branches, trash cans and road sides. This year I hadn't seen a one until last night. It was cold out and he wasn't as blurry as this picture but I was surprised to see him hunkered down between the glass and screen door. Where have they been? We had a fire last night in our little fire place which is fun. I have never lived in a house with a fireplace before but I must have a bit of pyromania in me because I am easily transfixed by a lit hearth. I asked the frog if he would like to come sit by the fire with me but he politely declined. Where is the trust?

Oona, Oona.
Dear, dear friend.
So sad to see you go.
Urban cuisine and
the St. Augustine scene
not to mention your 1st gelato
No Kool In The Gang
but our voices still rang
(the tune I think you should know.)
hope to see you soon
before too many moons
before Oona withdrawal starts to grow.

Nov. 4
Yesterday was a gray day. Externally and internally. Tests to take, political results to get over, bad dreams and foggy thoughts. But with the rain comes renewal and this morning I am like this resurrection fern. Awake and alive and bright. I am lucky my dark moods are over quickly. It was not always the case. The Morrison Melancholy is stealthy and has some teeth but I have it behind bars for now which is wonderful. Cool front comes in tonight and the sweaters will come out. Open the windows and let the wind chimes sing.

Nov.2
The jellyfish have disappeared and the horseshoe crabs are the stranded organism of the week. Many are on shore and so I was doing a little research. What amazing lowly creatures they are. We extract their blood for the health care industry. They used to be ground for fertilizer. A great site:

http://horseshoecrab.org/
is dedicated to the prehistoric sea wanderer and is full of art and poems and tales as well as all the information you could ever want about the mysterious and wonderful horseshoe which is not a crab at all.

No rules this time. Last picture diary I had a goal of posting an average of 1 picture a day. I did it for a year. I am removing such constraints this time and broadening my focus to include pontifications and other creative thoughts and/or projects. More writing perhaps. Not a blog though. Some days, no pictures, other days, more. It is a free-for-all!! No telling what may happen!

Dec. 10
Winter on the beach, a windy and lonely place. The end of the year is closing in fast and as it rushes towards me I wonder if I should be reflecting on the past year and all the changes. There have been quite a few. But looking back is not as fun as today or as promising as tomorrow. Perhaps I will bring out the memories when there is more time but for right now no Christmas letters are in the works. This may be just good old-fashioned procrastination but it feels more like a philosophy of life.

Dec. 17
My Christmas card won the Saint Augustine Camera Club's first annual holiday card contest. The prize was a 4GB thumb drive (memory stick) which is tiny, tiny. Amazing how much memory you can get now in such(cheap)small packages. Headed out tomorrow morning for a Christmas bird count from the water. Crossing my fingers that the rain waits until noon.

Nov. 1. Starting a new gallery feels strange. I have been playing with different themes and color combination for too long and am resisting the urge to just revert back to the old gallery style. I may end up there eventually, however, since nothing is making me entirely happy. It has been fun going through my pictures from the last year.http://cat-a-log.smugmug.com/Picture-diary/Day-in-the-life/9874714_X4tkB
It really is a picture diary as I can remember where I was and what was going on. A lot has changed, and as the cliche goes, a lot has stayed the same. I am thankful for both the variants and the status quo. This is Anastasia State Park where the dunes are large and the beach is empty. I took this shot on this morning's bike ride.

Jan 14
So I went out to shoot this afternoon with the camera club. I took several shots of small birds that were moving too fast and were too far away and a couple landscape shots but nothing very good or interesting. But just to prove there is always something to shoot, I got this colorful and textured pine tree in the sunlight. Today = A brisk afternoon and one good shot.

Feb 8.
So, it has been three weeks of picture drought. I have recovered mostly now from mid-winter mucus-y mess and am feeling healthy once more. Last week my mother and I started the 2nd module of the Master Naturalist program: the coastal module. Lots of boat rides and Pelicans to look forward to.

Jan. 6
And the Fall color reaches us by Winter here in Florida. Here is a nice display taken at Haw Creek yesterday. I took three shots with different exposures and combined them for this HDR (high dynamic Range) effect. I have mixed feelings about HDR. Ultimately though, I think any tool that allows for more creativity and range is a good thing.

Nov. 22.
Nice afternoon by the Saint John's River. Having fun these days with a new project:

http://lifewithpatty.com/
I am starting to see Patty everywhere. I hope this is not a sign of mental illness. More work coming my way from my job with Eco Tours which is great. I am so used to posting a picture a day that I now feel a little guilty when I don't do it.

Dec 27
No, it is not a diamond ring or fancy shoes. How silly are those? My husband knows me better and gave me this beautiful hand-colored antique page out of a 1821 German text for Christmas. Awesome.

Friend Toni went to the market yesterday to sell her paintings of American flags. (They are in the background of this picture I took.) I told her they would sell since veteran's day was this week and we are such a patriotic country. Hahaha. Not a one sold even though they are so well rendered. I think Toni was a bit dejected and sad. I sent her the picture and she returned it like this. http://www.tonilebusque.com/